Reading Response 1: "Two Aspects of Language"

There were two concepts that stood out to me from the reading, and they were both from “Two Aspects of Language.” The first one was about Aphasia and using it as a way to approach language; it’s a fascinating idea to learn about language and speech by observing the aphasic regression and looking at children’s language development (sounds, grammar etc.) in reverse. Not only that, it was interesting to observe this very technical process where linguists deal with “psychological and neurological data” and familiarize themselves “with the technical terms and devices of the medical disciplines dealing with aphasia” and work “with aphasic patients…directly and not only though a reinterpretation of prepared records which have been quite differently conceived and elaborated” (45). When one thinks about learning about a language, they may look at grammar or words/wording choice and this is a very different way of approaching that.

Another concept that fascinated me was the idea that that when a person is talking, or using language in general, he isn’t “a free agent in the choice of his words” (46), and that the words that he uses are from a “lexical storehouse which he and his addressee possesses in common” and they both share the same “prefabricated representations.” (46). This limitation is actually very true, and yet it’s a very different idea than what we’re used to; it got me thinking about the concept of freedom of speech and the belief that we can say/express whatever we want, however we want(which is true), but even while doing so that we are limited in a way.